As much as I love what I do, I can definitely relate to why someone would be unhappy at work. So, what’s holding us back from saying “I quit!”

What is this dark force?

Oh right! 💡 It’s the bills, the lifestyle and those innate desires to keep buying things that we don’t need.

Which brings me to the term FIRE; this is an acronym that I recently heard from a friend of mine. At first I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by “FIRE”. For a moment, I actually thought she meant being fired from my job. 😆

Then it turns out, FIRE was everything that I’ve been working towards this whole time!

What is FIRE?

FIRE simply stands for Financial Independence Retiring Early.

When a person achieves FI or “Financial Independence”, it means that the assets that they’ve accumulated are generating enough passive income to pay off any expenses in their life.

Throughout my career, I’ve met many awesome individuals. However, no matter where I worked, the one thing that I noticed was that a lot of people were struggling; working for money to achieve and maintain the lifestyle that they desired to have.

People always raise their eyebrows when they find out what I want to achieve in my life and why I want to do this. At an early age, I already understood that, not many people will think this way and that it is okay to be different from the norm.

Which brings us to the main question of the day, “Why do I want to be FIRE’d”?

Well, since you’ve asked, here are my best reasons.

Quit The Rat Race

According to Wikipedia, “A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of lab rats racing through a maze to get the ‘cheese’ much like society racing to get ahead financially.”

In other words, it’s an endless race competing with other rats thinking that at some point you’ll “win” the power and be wealthy.

This is the one race that I do not want to be in anymore. At times, I feel like my job is literally killing me slowly; it is simply pointless.

On the contrary, for some people, being in a rat race is not a terrible thing; there are many people out there who are happy being in the rat race because they want to race to the very end of it.

However, I’ve realized that no matter which rat race you’re in, when you win, you’re still a rat. Maybe you can call yourself the King Rat? 😛

Is it worth it? Not for me 🙂

Keep My Mind And Body Healthy

Have you ever worked so much that you forgot to take care of yourself?

Well, that was me. And I’m sure that I’m not the only one out there that has felt this way.

As mentioned earlier, there were numerous times when I felt like my job was going kill me. I couldn’t eat or sleep at the right time and was getting upset at everyone around me. Never mind trying to find time to workout and stay fit.

Wake Up Any Day Of The Week, Knowing That “I Am My Own Boss!

How many days in a week do you wake up and go, “Ugh… Another day at work?”

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the work that I do and the people that I work with. But I often think to myself… “Is this it? Did I grow up just to become another working rat in an office?”

Anyone who started their own business will tell you – It is not easy to be your own boss.

Hence why many people can’t pull the trigger to do it, especially when you need to come up with everything on your own.

But trust me… It is so worth it!

The concept of FIRE has helped me look at my whole life differently. Whether it’s regarding my wealth, career, or lifestyle. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and be happy about my work; have that freedom to work on the projects that I actually care about.

Spend More Time With My Family And Pets

Last year I made my childhood dream come true; I got myself a furry dog and I named him “Bear”. As scary as his name might be, Bear is the glue to my world and the main reason why I work towards my goal of being FIRE’d.

It is truly amazing how much joy a little pet can give you, especially when it feels like your whole world is falling down.

This little furry friend has taught me things that I will never learn from anyone else. Having him in my life made me realize how I don’t want to miss a moment of his life, EVER.

I don’t want to end up being someone who missed moments of their family member’s life because of work. Work comes and goes but special moments with your family is limited because it might not happen again.